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Arkansas wrecks Texas Tech in the WNIT

Arkansas wrecks Texas Tech in the WNIT

about an hour ago

Photo: Arkansas Athletics

FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s basketball team (24-12) gutted out a 71-66 victory over former Southwest Conference Texas Tech (20-15) in front of an energized home crowd in the Postseason WNIT Super 16. Arkansas came out with the fire, starting the game off with a 15-0 lead. Texas Tech settled in, owning the lead for eight minutes of the contest that saw six lead changes and four ties, but the Razorbacks owned a 19-14 advantage in the third quarter, which was the difference in the game. Makayla Daniels led the Razorbacks with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Chrissy Carr added 17 points. Arkansas will travel to Kansas to play the Jayhawks in the Great Eight on Sunday afternoon, marking Arkansas’ fourth appearance in the fourth round of the WNIT, first since 2011.

Texas Tech won the tip, but Samara Spencer took a charge to force an early Lady Raider turnover. The Razorbacks capitalized with a second-chance 3-pointer courtesy of Saylor Poffenbarger. Carr then knocked down a 3-pointer and Erynn Barnum came up with a steal to deliver a layup, as Arkansas was up early, 8-0, just 1:16 into the game, forcing Texas Tech to take an early timeout. Arkansas continued to get the job done on defense, capitalizing with another Poffenbarger triple. Texas Tech scored its first basket after nearly six minutes with a jumper, but Spencer answered with another jumper of her own. With three minutes to go in the quarter, Arkansas led 17-4. Texas Tech began to pick it up and went on a 5-0 run, while Arkansas was in a scoring drought for nearly three minutes. The Lady Raiders then knocked down a triple, and after one quarter, the Razorbacks held an 18-12 advantage. After Arkansas’ 15-0 start, the Lady Raiders outscoring the Razorbacks 12-3 in the second half of the quarter.

Texas Tech capitalized on a slow start for the Razorbacks in the second quarter, as the Lady Raiders started the frame on a 4-0 run. It took nearly 6.5 minutes, but Carr knocked down a triple to take the Razorbacks out of their drought. Texas Tech responded with a layup and got fouled in the process but could not convert the 3-point play. At the media timeout, Arkansas had the slight edge, 21-18, but out of the break, Texas Tech drained a triple to tie the game at 21 with less than four minutes remaining in the half. The Lady Raiders then took their first lead of the game on their next possession with another 3-pointer, while Arkansas was held scoreless for four minutes. With the Lady Raiders on a 10-0 run, Arkansas took a timeout, as Texas Tech led 26-21 with 2:17 left in the quarter. Out of the break, Makayla Daniels broke the Razorbacks’ drought with a much-needed triple and Carr tied the game at 26 with a layup. Daniels made her own miss with a layup to help the Razorbacks go up by two, but Texas Tech tied the game at the buzzer with the game knotted up at 28 at the half.

The Lady Raiders got the first basket of the second half with a layup as the shot clock expired, following that up with a jumper for a 4-0 run. Daniels then knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game to cut it back to a one-point game. Spencer knocked down a 3-pointer to give the lead back to the Razorbacks, 36-35, with under six minutes to play in the quarter. The Lady Raiders did not make a field goal for six minutes but benefited from getting fouled and got majority of their third quarter points from the free throw line, taking the lead again off freebies. Jersey Wolfenbarger delivered a jumper and Daniels got one on their next possession to give the Razorbacks the lead back, 40-39, with 2:28 left in the quarter. Arkansas then started to make their way to the line, making two of four free throws, and after a Spencer miss, the Razorbacks came up with the offensive board, leading to a Maryam Dauda layup off a Wolfenbarger dish. Wolfenbarger then knocked down a 3-pointer, which capped off an 11-0 run, but Texas Tech nailed a 3-poitner at the buzzer to end their scoring drought and trail the Razorbacks, 47-42, going into the fourth quarter.

Texas Tech missed two free throws to begin the quarter but got the rebound and made a jumper as the shot clock expired. The Lady Raiders got another lucky look, as they banked in a shot at the buzzer, but Daniels answered with a 3-pointer of her own. Arkansas went on a 6-0 run, benefiting from Texas Tech’s coach getting a technical foul and Wolfenbarger drawing a foul as well. With 6:33 left in the game, Arkansas held the 55-49 advantage. Texas Tech then went on a 5-0 run to make it a 56-54 game with 5:50 remaining in the contest. With no Arkansas field goals for over three minutes, Carr delivered back-to-back triples, but Texas Tech responded on both with baskets of their own. Daniels drew a foul and made two shots, as Arkansas led 66-59 with 2:05 left in the game. Arkansas came up with stops on defense, forcing Texas Tech to foul. The Razorbacks made 7-of-10 shots from the line down the stretch, delivering stops when they needed to in order to gut out the 71-66 win over the Lady Raiders.

HOG HIGHLIGHTS

  • Daniels paced the Razorbacks with 21 points, while scoring 16 of her points in the second half. She knocked down three 3-pointers and went 8-of-10 from the free throw line, while pulling down eight boards and dishing out three assists. She played nearly 38 minutes.
  • Now at No. 11 on the all-time scoring list, Daniels has 1,442 career points
  • Carr followed with 17 points, delivering four 3-pointers, including pivotal ones down the stretch in the fourth quarter
  • Spencer registered 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 37 minutes
  • Wolfenbarger recorded eight points off 3-of-5 from the field
  • Poffenbarger had a near double-double of eight points and nine boards. She moved up to No. 3 on the individual season rebounding list (249)
  • Barnum logged five points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. She is now No. 23 on the career rebounding list at Arkansas (571)
  • The Razorbacks knocked down 11 3-pointers. On the season, Arkansas has 298 3-pointers, which is the second most in an individual season in program history
  • Arkansas is now a perfect 12-0 over the Lady Raiders in Fayetteville
  • Arkansas outscored Texas Tech 15-2 in fastbreak points and 16-8 in second-chance opportunities
  • The Razorbacks advance to the fourth round of the Postseason WNIT for the fourth time in program history, first since 2011
  • Arkansas’ 24 wins ties the most for the program since 2019-20, as that team went 24-8

UP NEXT

The Razorbacks will head to Lawrence to face Kansas on Sunday, March 26 at 2 p.m. inside Allen Fieldhouse.

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Florida’s 3-point explosion buries Clemson in WNIT

Florida's 3-point explosion buries Clemson in WNIT

10 minutes ago
Florida Athletics

Photo: Florida Athletics

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Gators continued their impressive road play on Thursday evening, taking down Clemson in South Carolina, 73-63, to punch their ticket to the Great Eight of the Women’s NIT.

Florida (19-14) lit it up from behind the three-point line, connecting on 13-of-30 (43.3%) which is tied for the third-best performance by a Florida team in program history.

KK Deans led the way offensively with 19 points in addition to six rebounds and four steals while knocking down a team-high four triples. Deans was just one of five Gators to score in double-figures, joined by Leilani Correa (11), Alberte Rimdal (11), Faith Dut (10) and Nina Rickards (10).

For the game, Florida shot 26-of-58 (44.8%) from the field while holding Clemson (19-16) to 21-of-59 (35.6%) from the floor and just 3-of-16 (18.8%) from long range.

The Orange & Blue shared the ball well, dishing out 21 assists, with five each from Merritt and Rimdal.

The Gators were in charge of the boards once again, outrebounding the Tigers 42-32, led by 11 from Jordyn Merritt. Deans grabbed seven and Dut brought down six, helping Florida hold a 12-10 advantage in second-chance points.

Defensively, Florida forced 14 turnovers that resulted in eight steals, four of which came from Deans, in addition to four blocks, with three coming from Correa.

Clemson did end with the advantage at the charity stripe, knocking down 18-of-25 (72%) compared to UF’s 8-of-10 (80%). After a game-opening stop at the defensive end, the Gators went to work quickly on the offensive end.

With the Tigers showing zone, Deans began the game three-for-three from deep, quickly pushing Florida’s lead to 9-2. Clemson responded with four-straight to pull within three, but a jumper from Rimdal and triple from Correa made it 14-6 with 5:57 on the clock.

Deans continued her strong offensive showing with five more points to collect 14 of Florida’s 19 first quarter points, but the Tigers closed on a 10-2 run to pull within one, 19-18, at the end of the first.

The Gators and Tigers went bucket-for-bucket for the first three minutes of the second until the home team took their first lead of the game at the 6:53 mark following a fast break layup, 27-26. Clemson was able to push their lead to three, but Rimdal managed to find Correa for an open triple on the right wing to tie the game at 29 with 4:56 left in the half.

Correa knocked-down her second triple of the game at the 3:25 mark to push the Orange & Blue’s lead to three and help secure a halftime lead for the Gators, 36-35.

The Gators benefitted from eight first-half triples, ending 8-of-17 (47.1%) while holding the Tigers to just 2-of-7 (28.6%). Florida came out of the locker room with a purpose, opening with a 7-2 run that was capped-off by a Rickards layup with 7:50 on the clock, forcing a Clemson timeout while leading 43-37. Just under two minutes later, the Gators took their largest lead of the game to that point, 48-39, after Dut drained a triple from the right wing.

Taliyah Wyche got in on the action with 5:40 showing in the quarter, converting a layup extend Florida’s lead to 50-39. The offensive onslaught continued over the final five minutes, as the Gators outscored Clemson 22-10 in the third quarter to take a 58-45 lead into the final 10 minutes.

The impressive third quarter performance would give the Gators all of the momentum they would need, not letting the Tigers back within nine while leading by as many as 18 en route to a 73-63 victory in Littlejohn Coliseum.

Quotables

Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley

On advancing to the quarterfinals of the WNIT… “I think it’s great, you know our team is really coming together. They could make a lot of different choices at this point of the season and they’re choosing to elevate our program. I think, as a coach, you can’t ask for anything more than that. I’m very proud of them.”

On what was working for the Gators… “We’ve been working really hard on sharing the ball. You know, 22 turnovers is far too many for us, and a lot of those came late in the game. I thought we made a good adjustment midway through the third quarter, coming out of halftime. We took care of the ball a lot better. Our late game situations we just need to execute and see what’s open a little bit better. One of our goals was to really improve on both ends of the floor with the rebounds. I thought we did that. To the three-point shooting, we’ve been working hard on hitting the open player on time, every time by making the extra pass, and then moving to that extra pass to get the uncontested shot. That really payed-off for us tonight.” Notables – Florida pulls within one, 3-2, of the all-time series history against Clemson.

Notables

  • -The Gators are now 18-8 in the WNIT, including an 11-6 mark on the road all-time.
  • Florida improves to 2-2 in the Super Sixteen of the WNIT.
  • The Orange & Blue will be making their third appearance in the quarterfinal round of the WNIT.
  • Florida is a perfect 2-0 in the quarterfinal round of the WNIT, which is coming up next.
  • This will mark Florida’s first Great Eight appearance since 2013 when they defeated James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va., 85-80.
  • With four made threes, KK Deans moved into eighth all-time for made threes in a season, boasting 74.
  • Florida tied the third-most triples made in a game in program history with 13.

Up Next

The Gators will once again hit the road for a matchup with Bowling Green in Ohio in the WNIT quarterfinal matchup on Monday, March 27 at 6 p.m. ET.

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Florida shocks Demon Deacons, advances to WNIT Super 16

Florida shocks Demon Deacons, advances to WNIT Super 16

24 minutes ago
Florida Athletics

Photo: Florida Athletics

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Nina Rickards led an impressive effort from Florida women’s basketball on Monday evening, helping the Gators to an 80-63 victory at Wake Forest in the second round of the WNIT.

Rickards put together an impressive 25-point performance to lead the Gators (18-14), marking a new career-best for the senior to go along with four rebounds. Jordyn Merritt recorded 15 points with eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. KK Deans ended with her second career double-double, tallying 13 points and 10 assists.

For the game, Florida ended 27-of-56 (48.2%) from the floor and 12-of-25 (48.0%) from long range while holding Wake Forest (17-17) to 21-of-63 (33.3%) from the field and 9-of-25 (36%) from deep. The Gators assisted on 18 of their 21 makes, led by Deans’ 10.

The Gators controlled the glass in Winston-Salem, finishing with a 38-37 edge over the Demon Deacons. In addition to Merritt’s eight boards, Jeriah Warren pulled down seven and Faith Dut gathered six of her own.

Defensively, UF forced Wake into 15 turnovers resulting in 10 steals, led by Warren’s four, leading to a 19-8 advantage in points-off-turnovers and 11-7 edge in fast break points.

Jewel Spear led Wake Forest with 25 points and five rebounds.

Florida didn’t waste any time taking control of the game, opening with a 7-0 run, including the first five from Warren, while holding the Demon Deacons scoreless for the first 4:11 of the contest. Wake Forest answered with the next six points before a pull-up jumper from Rickards at the 3:18 mark put an end to the spurt. The offensive struggle continued to the end of the opener for the Gators, ending just 1-of-7 in the first quarter as Wake took a 15-11 advantage into the second stanza.

Rickards helped take the lead off of the bucket to start the second, knocking down a triple from the left wing to pull the Gators within one. The first lead of the second quarter came two minutes later when Deans found Alberte Rimdal in the same spot on a fast break, making it 17-14, before knocking down a long range shot of her own with 5:58 showing on the clock.

After the Orange & Blue scored the opening nine points of the second quarter, Olivia Summiel converted a corner three to put a stop to the bleeding for WFU with 5:45 left in the half. Florida’s three-point barrage didn’t stop, with Rimdal and Merritt converting back-to-back threes to make it 28-18 late into the period. Summiel answered with two more of her own from range to make it a four-point game, but the last five points of the half would go the way of the Gators to make it 33-24 at the break. All nine made field goals between the two teams in the second quarter came from behind the three-point line.

Exchanging buckets for the first five minutes of the second half, Florida got much-needed energy after Deans sliced through the lane for a tough-finish and foul to extend the Gators’ lead to 12, 46-34. The Demon Deacons wouldn’t disappear, however, reeling-off eight straight points, all from Spear, to make it 46-42 with 1:49 showing on the clock. Needing a bucket, Rickards rose to the occasion and drained a straight-on three to re-establish a seven-point edge before converting a contested lay-in to make it 51-42 with 10 minutes remaining.

In fitting fashion, Rickards immediately pushed Florida’s lead to double-figures to start the final frame, marking the last time the Demon Deacons would be within singles digits of the Gators as Florida sprinted away from Wake Forest for a dominant 80-63 victory.

Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley

On advancing to the third round of the WNIT…

“We’ve been working. That’s all I can say. This team is determined and I was really pleased with how they invested their time, and the choices that they made of the course of the last two weeks. It was their spring break last week and while a lot of teams could’ve made different choices or not wanted to play, that’s not the group we have. They’re competitors and they enjoy playing with each other, so tonight was top-to-bottom a very good game.”

On the impressive shooting performance…

“I thought they were encouraging each other, you could see that little bit of swagger, that little bit of confidence in each other. KK would pass the ball and she’d be all, ‘knock down,’ before the shot was even going in. Anytime you have somebody instilling that amount of confidence in you is a good thing.”

Notables

  • Florida now holds a 2-1 advantage all-time against Wake Forest.
  • The Gators improved to 17-8 in the WNIT all-time, including a 5-2 mark in the second round of the tournament.
  • Florida will be making their first appearance in the Super Sixteen of the WNIT since 2013.
  • This marks Florida’s best showing in the WNIT since making the semifinals in 2013.
  • Nina Rickards recorded a new career-high with 25 points on Monday.
  • Rickards’ 10 field goals tied a career-best.
  • KK Deans recorded her second-career double-double with 13 points and 10 assists.
  • The 10 assists by Deans marked the most since Delicia Washington recorded 10 assists against Savannah State on Nov. 23, 2017.
  • Deans is alone is 11th for the most made threes in a single season by the Gators, owning 70 this season.
  • Florida held their opponent to under 65 points for the 11th time this season.

Up Next

The Gators will meet the winner of Auburn and Clemson in the Super 16 of the WNIT. Details on location and game time will be release late Monday evening or early Tuesday morning.

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